September 11, 2001

September 11th, 2001.

10 years have gone by, but the reminders are still here. The pain hasn't faded, and the wounds will take time to heal.

People have asked me why I decided to write about something that tragical, why I was still trying to get informed, why I still talked about it instead of dropping the topic, leaving it behind, and forgetting about it.

Because we have a duty to keep the memory. Because even if it hurts to talk about it, we can't and musn't forget.

Yes, when I talk about that, it seems like I'm talking about the Holocaust. But is it really that different? September 11, 2001 is the result of 19 men's craziness, directed by ideas - and potentially a leader - that went way farther than their simple existence. Is it that different to the men and women who, about 70 years ago, killed millions of Jews to the name of some ideas and one man's craziness?

We also tried to forget the disasters of World War II. Burry these souvenirs just as the corpses of all of those who disappeared, and never ever talk about it again. But forgetting is dangerous, because it makes us take the risk to make the same mistakes over and over again. That's why we need to talk about it. That's why we need to give our children and the future generations the knowledge these awful events taught us.

I don't want to transmit them the fear, the terror of the world that might collapse at any given moment. Because that's what really shocked people this day, in the end. But instead of remembering the feeling of helplessness and the constant fear, we have to remember what this event made us realize.

No, we are not invincible. No, it's not because the man succeeded in "outstanding" the other living species of the planet that we are now out of danger. Because with the development of new technologies, and with the spreading of theories and ideas that go farther than us, our main ennemi isn't a stranger.

It's us. The whole humanity. We all are potentially dangerous individuals, because of our human status; for the planet, for other species, animals or vegetals...

But also and above all for ourselves.

So no, I won't stop getting information. No, I won't stop talking about it.

I understand the pain of those who have lost a loved one in this tragedy that has shaken the world. I admire the men and women who risked their lives that day in order to try to save the other's ones. And I pity the fact that such an event had to happen, and so many lifes to be sacrified, for us to realise that we are not invincible, nor ... intouchable.

For those of you who are interested (and who speak French) a French author, Frédéric Beigbeder, tried to put himself in the place of the visitors of the Windows On The World's restaurant, in the shoes of those who will never get to tell their story. The book is called Windows On The World, and this is the summary.

In a second, at the Windows on the World, a fat Portorican woman is going to start yelling. A director with a tuxedo and a tie will have is mouth wide open.‘’Oh My God.’’ Two collegues will stop chatting. A big red-head man will say 'Holy shit! ' The waitress will keep pouring tea until it flows over the cup. There are seconds that last longer than others. As if we had pushed on the "Pause" button of a DVD player. In a second, time will become elastical. All thse people will finally get to know each other. In a second, they will be the actors of the Apocalypse, united in the End of the World.

 

The only way to know what happened in the restaurant of the 107^th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, on the 11th of Septembre 2001, between 8h30 and 10h29, it's to invent it.

C.